LESSON IX. (Formation of sentences.)

Write in separate columns the following adjectives, nouns, verbs and adverbs.

Place four of the words above together, so as to form a sentence; as, The dark cloud hangs frowningly.

LESSON X. (Object.)

Write on the board or slate, "The wind shakes the leaves."
Which noun denotes the thing that acts? Ans. Wind.

Which noun denotes the thing acted upon? Ans. Leaves.

Which word expresses the action of the wind upon the leaves? Ans. The verb shakes.

Write the following sentences, and point out the nouns which denote the actor, and the thing acted upon.

The sun melts the snow.
The wind drives the ship.

The frost swells the ground.

The boy strikes the bell.

The hawk seizes the dove.

The rose perfumes the air.

In what condition or relation is the noun sun, in the first sentence? Ans. In the condition or relation which denotes the thing that acts.

In what state or relation is the noun snow? Ans. In the state or relation which denotes the thing acted upon.

The condition or relation of a noun in a sentence is called its

case.

The noun which denotes the doer or the thing spoken of, is in the nominative case.

The noun which denotes the thing acted upon is in the objective case.* Point out the nominative and objective cases in the sentences above. See § 54, § 55, § 57.

NOTE.-The cases of nouns need to be illustrated more fully than the limits of these first lessons will permit. But the teacher will be able by a little oral instruction to make the subject perfectly intelligible to young learners. In this connection may be explained the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb; and also the number and gender of nouns.

Place some word before" the clouds" to make sense.

* The subject of a verb in the passive form is an exception to this remark.

Place a word before "Boston" and one before "the cars" to make sense.

The words which have been supplied are called PREPOSITIONS. For further explanation and exercises, see § 31.

What words should be supplied, to connect James with Charles? Charles with Thomas? reads with writes?

He is happy because he is good.

What word connects he is happy with he is good?

The part of Speech used to connect sentences or words, is called a conJUNCTION. See § 39.

INTERJECTIONS are exclamatory words; as, O! ah! alas! See § 41.

LESSON XII.

When the parts of speech and their offices are well understood, the learner can proceed to the exercise of forming sentences, gradually extending them by joining qualifying words to the principal parts, according to the following

method.

SENTENCE. The wind drives.

Join an adjective.-The tempestuous wind drives.

Join an objective case.-The tempestuous wind drives the ship.
Join an adverb.-The tempestuous wind drives the ship violently.
Join a preposition and

The tempestuous wind drives the ship violently against the rocks.

Extend the following sentences in a similar way.

a noun following.

Such exercises can be varied or extended at the pleasure of the teacher.

REMARK.-Exercises of this kind not only impart an interest to the study of Grammar, but also serve to facilitate the progress of the young learner, in acquiring a knowledge of the essential principles of language.

LESSONS FOR PARSING.

LESSON I.

Point out the nouns and verbs in the columns below.

Point out the adjectives and the adverbs in the same columns.

LESSON II.

DIRECTION. The noun which denotes that of which something is said, is in the nominative case.

DIRECTION. Some adjectives are joined to nouns, to qualify their meaning; as, A good man; good qualifies man.

Mention what the adjectives qualify in the following expressions.

Tall trees.
Pale moon.

Lurid sky.

The day is long.

A mild disposition.

A rapid current.

A florid countenance.
The sky is blue.

LESSON IV.

A fleet horse.
A ferocious tiger.
A stormy night.
Time is short.

DIRECTION.-A verb is used to assert something about that which its nominative denotes; as, The rain falls; the verb falls is used to assert something about rain.

Point out the nominative case, and the word which is used to assert something.

Charles reads.

James studies.

The farmer ploughs.

LESSON V.

The fire burns.

The coachman drives.

The scholar learns.

DIRECTION.-The noun which follows a transitive* verb is in the

*The teacher can much more easily explain the idea of a transitive verb, by familiar oral instruction, than can be done in a book. See § 10, 4.

objective case; as, The miser loves gold; gold is in the objective

case.

Point out the nouns in the objective case in the following sentences.

Charles reads his book.

James studies his lesson.

The farmer ploughs his ground.

The fire burns the wood.
The coachman drives his team.
The scholar gains knowledge.

LESSON VI.

DIRECTION.-Adverbs are joined to verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs, to modify their meaning.

NOTE.-Adverbs may be generally known by asking how? when? or how much? the word that answers is the adverb.

The bird flies, [how?] Ans. Swiftly; swiftly is the adverb; he is verv ill; How ill? the adverb answers.

Point out the adverbs in the following sentences, and show to what words they are joined.

The boat arrived to day.

The ship was launched yesterday.
I dislike his conduct exceedingly.

I esteemed him too highly.

He is very negligent.

She sings sweetly.

LESSON VII.

DIRECTION. A preposition connects the noun following it, in sense, to some word preceding it; as, He returned from Boston; from connects Boston with returned.

Mention what words the prepositions connect in the following sentences. For a list of prepositions see § 105.

He dwells in the city.

The ship has sailed for London.

He was buried beneath the river.

The soldiers were in the camp.

The city was taken by the Americans.
The hill slopes towards the East.

The boy stood on the burning deck. The Mexicans were conquered in the battle.

LESSON VIII.

Point out the different parts of speech and show their relation.

The Americans conquered the Mexicans in the battle at Palo Alto.
The army under General Scott captured the fine city of Vera Cruz.

The robin sings sweetly in the Spring. The flower blooms in the meadow. The lambs skip over the hills. The Spring is the most delightful season of the year.

God created the earth; he covered it with verdure:

The sun shines at his command; he crowns the year with loving kindness; His mercy is over all the works of his hand.

GRAMMAR.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR is the science which teaches the principles, and the proper construction, of the English language.

§ 1. GENERAL DIVISIONS AND TERMS.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR is generally divided into four parts,—Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.

ORTHOGRAPHY, (Greek orthos, "correct," and grapho "to write,") treats of letters, and teaches their power and proper use.

ETYMOLOGY, (Greek etumon, "true and proper use," and logos "a word,") treats of words, and teaches their derivation, classes, and variations.

SYNTAX, (Greek suntaris, "the act of arranging,") treats of sentences, and teaches the proper construction of words in forming them.

PROSODY, (Greek prosodia,) treats of accent, quantity and versifi

cation.

ORTHOGRAPHY.

The organs of Speech are so formed, as to be capable of uttering sounds, significant of ideas.

Language was spoken long before it was written. The first written language was in rude images, hieroglyphics, or pictures. Letters were a later invention.